Glen Scotia Distillery has experienced closures and multiple ownership changes, but its financial situation has remained stable since private equity fund Exponent Private Equity took over the distillery in 2014. With the support of Exponent Private Equity, Colin Matthews and Nick Rose (former Diageo CFO) drove a £210 million company acquisition plan. Colin Matthews had previously worked at Imperial Tobacco for 16 years. In the first 18 months after the acquisition, Colin Matthews' team invested £25 million in Glen Scotia Distillery and its sister distillery, Loch Lomond Distillery. These funds were used for renovating the distilleries and developing new whiskies. Five years later, the distillery welcomed a new owner. In 2019, Chinese investment company Hillhouse Capital Management acquired the Loch Lomond Group, which may be an excellent opportunity for the distillery to enter the Asian market.
Glen Scotia Distillery is equipped with a conventional 2.8-ton cast iron mash tun, nine stainless steel fermentation tanks (with an average fermentation time of 120 hours), and a set of stills. Fermentation times range from a minimum of 70 hours to a maximum of 140 hours. The spirit cut range is 73% to 63% ABV, though the peat-flavored whisky spirit cut range is slightly lower. In 2019, the distillery estimated it could distill 10 batches per week, producing 520,000 liters of new make spirit. Peated whisky production has increased since last year, currently producing one batch of heavy peat (55ppm) and one batch of medium peat (22ppm) whisky every three weeks. The distillery recently switched from heavy oil to liquefied petroleum gas as fuel, a technical change that has reduced carbon emissions.
Glen Scotia's regular whisky lineup includes Double Cask, Glen Scotia 15, 18, and 25 years, and the lightly peated cask strength Victoriana. Since 2017, the distillery has launched the 100% first-fill bourbon cask Glen Scotia Harbour, which is exclusive to UK Waitrose supermarkets and Marks & Spencer. In 2017, the distillery also launched its first duty-free limited editions: PX sherry cask Glen Scotia Campbeltown 1832 and Glen Scotia 16 years. On June 19, 2019, the distillery launched a rum cask 2003 limited edition vintage and announced that Glen Scotia 45 years would be launched at the end of 2019.
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